SUDAN: IRIN News Briefs [19990707]

SUDAN: IRIN News Briefs, 7 July

Fighting in Unity State intensifies

A resurgence of fighting between two pro-government
southern factions has been reported in oil-rich Unity
State, news agencies said. Heavy clashes between the
South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF) led by Riek Machar
and the forces of Paulino Matib started on Saturday,
BBC reported on Tuesday. It quoted an SSDF commander
as saying SSDF forces had killed 200 of Matib's forces
and taken another 109 prisoner. A Matib assistant told
the BBC that SPLA rebels were fighting alongside the
SSDF. Government troops in the area were reported to
have not intervened to stop the fighting, it added.

Uganda accused of "masterminding" offensive

The Sudan government has accused Uganda of "masterminding"
plans for a "wide-scale offensive" centred
around Juba, AFP reported. Quoting the official SUNA
news agency on Tuesday, it said Uganda, working with
other countries in the region, was planning the assault
for sometime in July. "Forces made up of three
infantry brigades consisting of the Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA), and mercenaries from Uganda,
Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania and equipped with troop
transport vehicles, tanks, artillery in addition to
helicopters, have been massed inside Uganda to carry
out the offensive," SUNA said, quoting military
sources. The SPLA has denied the presence of any foreign
elements in the rebel army.

OIC calls for end to sanctions

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has
"reiterated its call to the United States to lift
the unilateral economic sanctions imposed on the Sudan
in view of their harmful effects and the losses incurred
by the Sudanese people economically and socially".
The call was made in the final recommendations of the
OIC's 26th ministerial session, held in Burkina Faso
from 28 June to 1 July. The OIC, 26 of whose 56 member
states are in Africa, also backed Sudan's request for
an "international investigating commission under
the supervision of the Security Council to investigate
US allegations that the Al Shefa pharmaceutical factory
produces toxic chemical gases". It confirmed "full
solidarity with Sudan in facing hostile designs against
its security and national integrity".

Canadian grant seeks to "rekindle" peace process

Canada is providing 400,000 Canadian dollars to the
International Resource Group on Disarmament and Security
in the Horn of Africa (IRG) to rekindle the stalled
peace process in Sudan. A report from the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) said the IRG
will act as an advisory body to the negotiations and
"engage envoys to regularly brief participants
in the peace talks". The IRG is an international
panel of former ministers of African countries, former
high-level international and regional government leaders,
and leading academics, it said.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustapha Osman
Ismail said on Wednesday that the next round of Sudan
peace talks organised by the Inter-Governmental Authority
on Development (IGAD), scheduled for 19-24 July in
Nairobi, will focus on "a comprehensive ceasefire,
the transitional period, and a referendum," Sudanese
Radio reported.

Bashir agrees to hold national conference

The government has agreed to hold a national reconciliation
conference "to bring about unity, peace, freedom
and progress" in the country, Sudanese television
reported recently. It quoted President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir as saying, on the eve of the 10th anniversary
of the coup that brought him to power, that the government
would seek to expand power-sharing and freedom.

Meanwhile, Bashir inaugurated Sudan's first private
sector oil refinery in the Khartoum suburb of al-Shajarah
as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, news
agencies reported. The Concorp installation will refine
some 10,000 barrels per day, AFP said.

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